National Blog

TSA Cancer in Boston?

TIME.com's Healthland recently ran a report documenting claims by TSA union representatives in Boston that exposure to radiation from full-body scanners could be responsible for a "cancer cluster" among airport security workers.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), has been thoroughly investigating the issue:

"In an email obtained by EPIC, a NIST official stated that the agency had not tested the scanners for safety and does not in fact do product testing. Rather NIST had merely measured the radiation dose from a single machine against the standard of what is considered acceptable. It had not done the rigorous product testing required to determine safety over time."

"Although TSA union reps at Boston's Logan Airport asked that the agency allow its screeners to wear radiation-monitoring devices, the TSA has yet to provide the dosimeters, EPIC said. Meanwhile, another document obtained by EPIC shows that NIST recommends that TSA screeners avoid standing next to the scanners whenever possible, and a Johns Hopkins University study finds that radiation zones around body scanners could potentially exceed the "General Public Dose Limit."